Ian Bradwell ………….. A Personal Account, Experiencing Transition from DLA to PIP.

Personal Independent Payments - PIP. In April of this year I was sent a letter in hard copy (remember I am blind). My Dad had to read the letter saying that we are changing your money from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to Personal Independent Payments. If you do not reply to this letter, we presume you do not need to have any new money and we will stop your money from this point.

For the next 16 weeks, I had to go through the humiliation of having the PIP people come and talk to me asking intrusive questions such as "What is it like when you go to the toilet? Are you able to clean yourself?"

Do you realise how humiliating this is having to sit there and having people give these sort of questions, giving them permission to intrude as much as they like into every facet of your life, going to your doctor, going to the hospital, even going as far as to question if your Guide Dog is a Guide Dog, so you have to prove that the dog is a Guide Dog, by her Computer ID number.

People must realise, being blind, some of us are born with it, some of us might develop it but what we don't like is the further humiliation, devalued aspect of our person, by people sent by the government, wanting to bring us down even further and want to make us beg.

It is time this practice was stopped. It is time we had a fair system. Those who are vulnerable and can't work should be given money. Those who can should encouraged and enabled to have flexible working hours, with flexible wages to suit it.

If you cannot work, you should not be bullied or humiliated. Our lives shouldn't be made any more vulnerable. Society should not just be judged on its success but how we treat our vulnerable.

Ian Bradwell was in conversation with Scott Kennedy-Lount

Published and promoted by Alan Fox on behalf of Ian Bradwell (Liberal Democrats) all at 59 St. Albans Road, Leicester LE2 1GF